Due to the lack of coverage by other media the Bermuda Equestrian Federation has written the following Press Release for the media to print and report as if this happened today.
Tyler Lopes & Julia Lines took third place at the 2010 Caribbean Equestrian Association’s (CEA) Junior Jumping Competition in The Grand Cayman Islands. The event was held over Saturday and Sunday March 20th and 21st respectively under some hot and humid conditions.
The Bermuda team started the day really well with Lines’ first round resulting in only one time fault. Lopes also produced a respectable first round and had four faults. Bermuda was sitting in first place going into the second round, however in this competition; the tables can turn in a blink of an eye. And so they did! A very tall Lines had to ride a little 13 hand pony in the second round, a pony that had already eliminated Jamaica’s Jonathan Vaz. The smaller they are, the more devilish they can be! Lines had an unfortunate two refusals on course which resulted in our first elimination, twenty-five faults. Lopes had a difficult ride in the second round and had to ride for every jump, which resulted in twelve faults.
Day two saw Lines produce a respectable clear round and put us back on track, however Lopes’ horse was not having any parts of jumping on the day and resulted in two refusals and an elimination. This was pretty much how day two went for all the riders producing a record number of eliminations ever for a CEA competition. We were in good company! Going into the fourth and final round was anybody’s game.
Lopes finished with a respectable clear round while Lines had an unfortunate fall to fence three which resulted in an elimination. Lines finished first in the 14 & Under age bracket while Lopes finished in fourth in the 16 & Under age group. Host country Cayman took first place over Jamaica by 3 points, Bermuda third and Trinidad fourth. See results below:
1. Cayman – 89 faults in total no time
2. Jamaica – 92 faults in total in a time of 44.07
3. Bermuda – 92 faults in total in a time of 45.57
4. Trinidad – 96 faults in a time of 55.22
Coach/Team Manager McKeisha Smith said “Both riders rode very well despite the results. Cayman has a fleet of challenging little ponies that tested every rider. Julia and Tyler rose to the challenge, lady luck wasn’t on our side.”
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